Light-excluding seal for film packs



July 8, 1947.

T. M G. AIKEN EXCLUDING SEAL FOR FILM PACKS LIGHT- Filed Feb. 9, 1945 rjzzyezzfar' Patented July 8, 1947 LIGHT-EXCLUDING SEAL FOR FILM PACKSThomas McGowan Aiken, Pittsburgh, Pa., as-

signor to Samuel Hornstein, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 9, 1945, Serial No. 577,079

7 Claims. 1

Photographic films are widely distributed in so-called packs whichconsist of little casings each containing a number of films that havetabs protruding through a slot in one edge of the casing; one film afteranother being brought into position for use through pulling out on thesetabs. Although each tab is torn off after it has served its purpose, anda part still remains in the slot, light frequently enters the casingthrough the slot. Various means have been suggested to insure theeffective sealing of these slots and, while some of them may be useful,I know of no means available for use with packs that do not have builtin sealing devices.

The object of the present invention is to produce a simple, novel,inexpensive and efficient sealing device for the slots in said filmpacks that maybe applied, not only in the factory, but by the user, andwhich may be used over and over again.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherem:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a film pack to which my invention hasbeen applied, together with a holder or adapter that-has beenonlypartially closed on the pack; Fig. 2 is a perspective view, on alarger scale, showing only the pack; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of thesealing device removed from the pack; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of thefilm pack with the sealingdevice thereon; Fig. 5 is a front view of theupper part of the film pack withithe sealing device in place; Fig. 6

is a section through the upper part of the film pack, with the sealingdevice in place, on a plane at right angles to the films; Figs. 7 and 8are, respectively, a top view and a front View of the sealingdevice; andFig. 9 is a section, on a still larger scale, on line 99 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawing, l represents any usual or suitable fiat casinghaving in one edge, to which I shall refer as the top, a slot 2 thatextends throughout practically the entire length of such edge andthrough which the tabs 3 of flexible strips attached to photographicfilms in the casing project. This film pack of itself is no part of thepresent invention, and neither is the holder or adapter 4, which is alsoold and well known. In accordance with my invention I provide a simplelittle sealing device that is laid on top of the casing, in front of andin contact with the tabs, and with a portion thereof extending down intothe slot. When the holder or adapter 4 is closed on the film pack, asindicated i broken lines in Fig. 6, a wall or flange 5 on the latteroverlies the sealing element and holds it in place.

In its simplest form the sealing device comprises an elongated compositemember of T- shaped cross-section composed of a horizontal flangesection, one-half portion of which consists of a suitable flexiblesealing strip of material as, for example, felt which is adapted to bepressed against the foremost tab across the entire width of the latter.lThe other one-half portion of the horizontal flange section consistingof a horizontal metal portion of U -shaped cross-section provided with adepending stem section I adapted to enter the slot in the casing, thepressure of the tabs thereon will frictionally hold the device insealing position until it is intentionally removed. In the arrangementshown, the sealing device of T-shaped cross-section is composed of twopieces, one piece 6 being a strip of felt or the like and the otherpiece comprising a pre-shaped member made of sheet metal or othersuitable stiff sheet material. The stiff sheet material is bent orfolded on parallel lines to produce the stem portion 1, which is simplya, long narrow vertically disposed strip, and a horizontally disposedportion 8 of U-shaped cross-section providing a channel that has itsopen side adjacent to the stem 1 and has a narrow lip 9 extendingoutwardly beyond the bend between the Vertical stem 7 and the horizontalu-shaped portion. The sealing strip 6 is frictionally secured along oneside thereof within and-protrudes from the horizontal-U-shaped portion 8to produce a structure which, as a whole, is T-shaped in cross section;the metal element, alone, being L-shaped. Or, viewed in another aspect,the device may be regarded as having a T-shaped cross-section comprisinga stem 1 having at the upper long edge thereof two oppositely directedlaterally aligned flange portions, one of which portions is stiff, asfor example, the horizontal U-shaped portion 8, and the other flexibleand compressible represented by the free section of the felt strip 6.

It will be seen that when the sealing device is applied to the pack asindicated in Fig. 6, the protruding portion of the felt strip 6 does notsimply make edge contact with the near tab but engages therewith face toface over substantially the whole area of one face of the exposedportion of the strip, thereby making certain that no light can seep downinto the pack through gaps between the extended sealing strip portionand the tab. This results from the fact that the horizontal flangeportion of the T is at least as wide as the top face or edge surface ofthe casing. While the felt flange portion extends far rearward from theslot in the casing, the stiff metal flange portion extends far from theslot in the forward direction, insuring that no light can enter intoslot by passing underneath the stiff metal flange portion.

The stiff metal flange portion 8 is preferably provided at its upperlong free edge with a lip 9 that extends throughout almost the entirelength of the device; the lip being conveniently created by bending anarrow marginal portion of the upper wall portion of the flange portion8 outwardly at an acute angle. This lip protrudes angularly beyond theplane of the stem 1 and can therefore serve as a presser foot to forcethe felt strip firmly against the near tab.

It will be seen that the sealer need not be discarded after a pack offilms has been used, but may be retained for use with other packs. Itwill also be seen that not only is my improved device very useful, butit can be applied by any one with the assurance that it will serve itsintended purpose effectively.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to theexact details so illustrated and described; but intend to cover allforms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my inventionconstituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for sealing the slot in the top of a photographic film packcasing through which protrude tabs attached to films housed in thecasing, comprising an elongated sealing member of T-shaped cross-sectionadapted to be positioned on top of the casing with one edge of thehorizontal flange portion of the member in pressure contact with theface of the front tab and with the vertical stem portion of the memberdisposed in said slot; that part of the flange portion along said edgebeing flexible.

2. A device for sealing the slot in the top of a photographic film packcasing through which protrude tabs attached to films housed in thecasing, which consists of a long narrow flat stiff member containing achannel, a yieldable sealing element of substantial width securelyfitted in said channel along a longitudinal portion thereof, and a thinelongated stem portion projecting downwardly from said member forinsertion into said slot in front of the tabs; the parts being soproportioned that, upon assembling the device with a filled casing, saidyieldable sealing element lies on the outside of the casing and iscaused to bend upwardly and make face to face pressure contact with theadjacent tab.

3. A sealing device for sealing the slot in the top of a film packcasing which comprises an elongated member of T-shaped cross-sectionhaving a horizontal flange portion and a stem portion disposedperpendicularly to said horizontal flange portion, said flange portionconsisting of a stiff flat member of U-shaped crosssection, a flatyieldable sealing element, said U- shaped member embracing alongitudinal portion of the sealing element and having a right-angularlybent integral portion for insertion in said slot and constituting saidstem portion of said T-shaped cross-section.

4. A sealing device for the slot in the top of a film pack casing whichcomprises a long, thin, stiff strip adapted to be inserted in said slotand being provided at one long edge with a pair of horizontally alignedflange portions forming therewith a structure that is T-shaped in crosssection, both of said flange portions being adapted to overlie the topof the casing, one of said flange portions being of U-shapedcrosssection and the other flange portion being a strip of flexiblematerial fixed in and protruding from said U-shaped portion.

5. A sealing device for the slot in the top of a film pack casingthrough which protrude tabs attached to films housed in the casing, saiddevice comprising an elongated piece of sheet metal formed into a memberof an L-shape cross-section, the part constituting the Vertical leg ofthe L being adapted to enter into said slot and the part constitutingthe horizontal leg being bent outwardly and back to create a channelbetween such bent portions, and a strip of sealing material frictionallyheld in and protruding from said channel, said horizontal leg and saidsealing strip overlying the top of said casing with the free edge ofsaid strip in contact with an adjacent tab while said vertical leg ispositioned in said slot.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the marginal portion alongthe'free edge of said horizontal leg portion is bent angularly outwardlythrough an acute angle to provide said channel of said horizontal legwith an open side that is wider than the thickness of said sealingstrip.

7. A device as set forth in claim 5, wherein there is at the long freeedge of said horizontal leg a lip extending outwardly at an acute anglelaterally over the strip of sealing material to serve as a presser footagainst an upturning part of that strip when the device is applied toexert pressure against the protruding tabs of the film pack.

THOMAS McGOWAN AIKEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PAIENTS Number Name Date 1,871,217 Klaus Aug. 9, 1932

